I
stood and helped Samuel rise. “Did you tell her that you’re trying to give her
kids?”
“Does
it matter if it’s already done?” Samuel headed to his wagon. A few dominas got
a good glance at his cock and blushed. He didn’t even notice how more dominas
formed near the wagon he climbed in, drawn to the power only a king could
radiate. Only Brie existed in his head. Samuel closed the door and I hoped he
went inside to clean and dress, instead of rest in preparation for more sex.
The blood mage comes,
Phinova
announced in my skull.
Bring her to me.
Quiet.
I should end this now with Phinova. Put her body somewhere. The more she talked,
the less she seemed like my love. It was just her voice, but not her soul or
mind. I knew Phinova, loved her more than any vampire could. This was not
Phinova.
I am,
Phinova declared.
Brie
strolled my way. “You can’t touch me like that again.”
“Why
not?” I leaned my head to the side. “You enjoyed my fingers. There’s no need
for you to lie.”
“Not
the point.”
“Then
what is?”
“I’m
his queen.”
“Samuel
could learn to share. In the end, he only wants to please you and if both of us
made you happy, he would understand.” I pressed my lips against her cheek and
was shocked that she didn’t back away. “Do you long to have us both?”
She
averted her eyes. “No.”
“You’re
lying.” I inhaled her luscious fragrance.
“Why
were you talking to Phinova in the wagon earlier?”
My
stomach clenched into tight knots of stress. “You imagined that.”
“I
didn’t.”
“There
are bigger things to worry about.” I motioned to the mage tribe.
“I
already have a plan for them. Ambi and Ressi told me in a dream that the mages
would be ready for us. They told me what to do.”
Now Brie is crazy. Will any of us
conquer Nai? I’m talking to a corpse. Samuel is planning a family. And now Brie
is talking to gods in dreams.
“Ambi
and Ressi?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Why
should I believe this?”
“I
don’t care if you don’t.”
I
crossed my arms over my chest. “Let’s say that you did talk to the gods. What
did they tell you to do?”
“When
I died, they told me to join with my kings and unite them all.”
“Your
kings?” I grinned.
“Yes.
I assume they’re referring to you and Samuel.”
“Because
we’re yours?”
She
looked away. “Yes. Because you both are mine.”
Interesting.
“When
did you decide I was yours?”
“When
I gave you my blood and you swore to protect Samuel and me.” She pierced me
with her eyes. “Once I returned from death, Ambi and Ressi came to me in a
dream. They warned me that humans fled Capitol City and rushed to the mage
tribes, seeking a safe haven and spreading a message that a Horned King has
risen to take over the whole land.”
“So
what are we supposed to do?”
“We
aren’t supposed to do anything.” She shook her head. “Ambi told me to approach
the tribe myself—”
“No!”
She
sighed. “Yes.”
“They’ll
see your hair and recognize that you’re a blood mage. You’ll be on fire before
you can make another step.”
There
weren’t a lot of blood mages in my time with hair as red as Brie’s, and such
sweet blood. Tribes murdered them due to the power of their blood. It could
heal most creatures quickly and turn a human into a vampire overnight. Tribes
didn’t want more vampires flooding the planet.
They
believed that their lives’ purpose was to kill them all. According to mage
religious texts, Ambi showed up, spotted Ressi, and was overtaken by her
beauty. He desired her, but she refused him. And so one night when she was fast
asleep among the stars, Ambi attacked and raped her for sixty days and nights,
filling her body with his seed. And when he finally finished, darkness bathed
the world for seven days and vampires clawed their way out of her womb,
spilling onto the earth.
Ambi
was exhausted, so Ressi seized the opportunity to kill him. But a god can’t be
killed, only stopped by separating him. So, she filled him with light, which
for some backward mage reason, paralyzed him. Then she split him in two halves
with her teeth, rolled him into two balls, and trapped him among the stars. The
two moons that bathed the land in light were supposed to be two halves of Ambi
constantly trying to reform.
But
mage theory went further. They believe that when Ressi looked down on planet
Dos, she cried in shame at the sight of the vampires, the products of her
brutality. She wanted us dead, but couldn’t do it herself, because we were
still part of her. So, she formed mages with her tears, dirt from the land, and
fire from her breath. She gave each of the mages power over an element so they
could exterminate the vampires for her. Then she left. According to mages, when
all of the vampires are gone, Ressi will return.
“You’re
not going to the tribes by yourself,” I hissed.
“I
am.” She shrugged.
Several
sharp points pressed against my back. I glanced over my shoulder. Ten guards
with swords against my back stood behind me. Leeta and Olivia got in front of
me next to Brie and held wooden daggers.
“What
is this?” I growled and shifted my gaze to the wagon where Samuel had disappeared
into, hoping he would be done soon to help me. Tote positioned himself in front
of the wagon and clamped several locks down along the hinges of the door.
He’s locking Samuel in.
It wouldn’t keep
him inside the wagon for long, but it would give Brie enough time to run over
to the mages and die.
“This
is dangerous.” I moved an inch toward her. In a blur, Leeta’s dagger smoothed
against my throat. I tensed. “You’re already on my bad side, Leeta.”
“I’m
just following the queen’s directions.”
“Queens
are trouble,” I said. “Perhaps you should consider only taking orders from
kings.”
“Enough.”
Brie took off her robe. The crimson material fell to the ground. Her hair
floated around her as if magic radiated from her skin.
Maybe it does.
Those symbols brightened all over her flesh again. I
still couldn’t make out all of the words, only the one sentence written along
her navel.
“Unite
as one and you will conquer all,” I read the symbols and directed my attention
to her eyes. Those green pupils glowed. Her hair rose above her head and
brightened so much it looked like fire. “Dear Ambi. You look like one of the
Returned.”
There
were a few people who’d died and returned from death with symbols on their body
and a bit of magic moving around in their core. It was said to happen every hundred
years or more, but no one truly knew if it was true or not. No Returned existed
any more. I’d only seen discussions of it in children’s books and bedtime
tales.
“I
told you.” Brie smiled. “I did return.”
She
walked away naked with strands of flaming hair that streamed and wavered around
her. “And I’ll return to you and Samuel with mages ready for war and the taste
of the Quiet King’s flesh on their tongues.”
Chapter Eight
~Brie
With
each step toward the line of mage, my nerves flared on edge until I feared I
would explode into bits of myself. Wind blew by. Goosebumps sprouted all over
my bare skin. I’d gone naked so they could see all the marks and understand
that when I approached them, I held no secret weapons on me.
The
cool grass rose to my knees and smoothed against my skin with every step. Hot
dirt pressed against the soles of my feet. Out here the fragrance of nature
rose in the air—herbal perfumes from wild red tulips, the unsullied scent of
untraveled soil, and the peculiar aroma of supernatural power that the hundreds
of mage exuded as they gathered ahead. Their magic smelled like fresh mint and
the birth of a fire. The more I came near, the more their magic lingered my way
and lulled me forward.
“Please
Ambi and Ressi, let me be doing the right thing.” I struggled to not form my
hands into tight fists. I didn’t want the mage to see that and think I’d come
to battle. Not that one naked woman was anything to fear.
The
gods’ words floated in my head.
Tell them
what you saw. Show them the symbols. Peace will come if you help them believe.
Strength
and confidence flowed through my veins, yet I still shivered as the mile
between the mage and myself transformed to several feet. My flesh brightened,
illuminating the markings on my skin even more. I kept my head straight and
forward as if I were looking right at them, when really I stared off in the
distance, too afraid to meet any of their eyes. I knew they spotted my hair.
How could they not? My hair danced around me in the wind like flames swaying in
a trance. I had no idea why, besides the fact that Ambi told me when I returned,
all would recognize the truth of my journey through death and back to life.
Clucking
ensued in front of me. I almost paused. Instead, I pushed on as the short
people holding sticks and rocks clucked their tongues against their teeth and
beat their sticks against rocks. The fireballs that hovered over the taller
people’s heads decreased from huge as the size of boulders to small like apples.
They’d tied cloth made from wolf hair around their body to hide their genitals.
Unlike the short people, who represented men and women, the tall people were
only big men. I should have been soothed by them lowering their fire.
I
wasn’t. My heart boomed against my chest harder than ever before.
“Stay
where you are!” A light voice rushed out from their line.
I
stopped and held my hands behind my back. Finally, I directed my gaze on all of
them in front of me.
The
short people wore dark green beaded wraps around their waist and chest. Red mud
painted half of their brown skin. The tall men dressed in wolf hair. Rich
forest emerged behind them. Lush green leaves coated the branches. Bulbs of
huge fruit dangled. White glimmering birds flew above, chirping and hooting.
They sparkled and glittered with light. I wondered if they possessed some sort
of magical firepower, too.
Forget the birds. Focus on the task
ahead.
“Hello!”
I held my hands behind me. “My name is Brie. I would like to talk to your
leaders.”
“Are
you sure about that, blood mage?” A short woman stepped forward. Her eyes
glowed bright green. Her hair was thick, black, and woven into hundreds of
braids that hung over her shoulders. Instead of simply a beaded wrap, she wore
a full beaded gown of violet, green, and brown beads that layered into an
intricate pattern and dragged along the ground behind her. She was enchanting,
yet something inside me yelled
danger.
I listened and kept my mouth closed.
She
sashayed my way with a smile and stopped four feet in front of me. “A-Rrock
Non!”
The
short people in green lowered on their knees and dropped their weapons to the
side in unison.
“A-Rrock
Non!” They yelled back.
I
remained quiet and forced myself to maintain eye contact. Footsteps approached
us. The line of tall people holding the flames separated. A bald, fat man with
a jiggling belly ambled our way. He had orange eyes that blazed like fire. A
cloak made from wolf hair hung on his shoulders. His loin cloth extended to his
knees and possessed thicker fur than the others.
These two must be the leaders of
their tribes. Or perhaps it’s the tribes’ representatives.
“Why
did you come, blood mage?” The fat man’s voice screeched at the end of each
word.
“I’ve
come to ask for help.”
“Yet
you don’t bow?” the woman snarled. “You disrespect me by standing in front of
me like my equal.”
“I
don’t know your customs,” I said.
“You’re
one of us, but you don’t know our way?” She tilted her head to the side.
“She’s
not one of us,” the man hissed. “She’s one of the vampires’ whores. Are you the
Horned King’s blood whore?”
“No.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’m the Horned King’s queen.”
Whispering
began among the line of mages. The woman smiled. The man frowned. I didn’t know
if I’d gained a friend and an enemy just by my answer, but I refused to lie to
either of them.
“And
do you think you and your…Horned King will trample through our land, raping our
women of their blood, and seizing our worth?” The man spat on the ground in
front of me. “You’ll die tonight if you try it.”
“We’re
not interested in mage territory,” I replied.